Big Bend Trip Report: Home Page

Twelve Hour Drive from Lufkin, Tx.
Short stop at the Pecos River and Langtry, Tx.
Short stop in Marathon, Tx.
Chisos Mountains Basin / The Windows @ Sunset
Check-in / Unpack@ the Big Bend Motor Inn

The Drive
I have to hand it to my cousin Joey - he did absolutely all the driving on this entire trip (Nissan Xterra). We traveled from Lufkin to Houston to San Antonio to Del Rio to Marathon and south to Big Bend. We left at 3:30 a.m. and arrived in Marathon around 2:30 in the afternoon.

A Few Stops
We stopped at the scenic overlook along the Pecos River Bridge and took a few pictures. We were both a little anxious to photograph "something" after being in the truck for over eight hours. The lighting wasn't the best, but we got what we could. Several more miles down the road we stopped at the Judge Roy Bean Visitor Center in Langtry, Tx. We mainly just stopped here for a pit stop and stayed for about 10 minutes. It's a good stopping place with a very friendly reception area. If you haven't toured the exhibit then it's a lot of fun to get to know old Judge Roy Bean. Would you believe he orchestrated a heavyweight prize fight in the middle of the desert? We finally made it to Marathon and stopped in to take a look. A lot has changed since our trip in 1993. It is beginning to be a little "up town" with the addition of a few art galleries, an espresso type coffee shop, and several additions to the Gage Hotel. I admit it, I had a Big Bend Coffee blend to go and we explored along the main drag and took a few photos. The photo for the banner on this page was taken as a reflection in a Harley Davidson parked outside the hotel. There were a lot of bikers throughout the week enjoying the great outdoors of Big Bend.

Chisos Mountains Basin
We drove through the Persimmon Gap Visitor Center at 4:35 p.m.. They had closed at 4:30 p.m.. I guess those park volunteers have a life too? We wanted to get a report on Dagger Flats (yucca blooms) and the condition and photographic possibilities of Rosillos Road. Guess we would have to find all that out later. We decided to drive on to the Basin and have a look around. We really hadn't planned for a sunset location on Day One so we were just taking it easy. We browsed around the store in the basin and eyed a few Big Bend patches and t-shirts, but we'd do our shopping later. We decided to take the short Window Look Trail and wait out the sunset around 7:10 p.m.. I also wanted to try out a few Cokin filters (neutral density and gradient orange) that I had for several years but never thought to use them. This trip was all about photography and I was really feeling the freedom to experiment and get to know the ins and outs of my digital camera (Sony CD400). I found that it was much easier to experiment with photography without my beautiful nine and six year old daughters, Alex and Claire. Definitely an opportunity to go beyond the usual vacation pictures. The closer it got to sunset the larger the crowd became at the Windows overlook. It was nice to see everyone's appreciation for a beautiful sunset in Big Bend. There were older couples, young families, and a group of college students. Just before the sun dropped below the horizon somehow a sliver of light shone through part of the Window and illuminated the top of Casa Grande behind us to a rich reddish color. Everyone did an about face to see the spectacle and we all scratched our heads trying to figure out where the ray was coming from. A few clouds above the Window faded to pink and purple to make the sunset of Day One a fantastic beginning to our week in the Big Bend.

Check-in / Unpack
We drove to Study Butte, checked in to the Big Bend Motor Inn, and walked across the parking lot to the accompanying gas station / convenience store / restaurant. The menu entrees could be counted on one hand so we knew we would be looking for another dinner location; although, that all would change when the menu did a few days later. We ate, unpacked and reviewed the itinerary for Day Two and set the alarm for 5:00 a.m.

Please note that clicking on the main headings located on each page will take you back to the top of that page.

Day One